


Pearl’s Tree

by madcapdragonshenanigans



Series: An Expanding Universe [3]
Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, dont worry - the oc is just a kid who’s mentioned in a sentence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 19:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 468
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14432814
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madcapdragonshenanigans/pseuds/madcapdragonshenanigans
Summary: Pearl’s tree was always a symbol to her, and it always will be.





	Pearl’s Tree

**Author's Note:**

> What’s up, Madeline came up with this idea less than ten hours ago, and now here it is. Someone take my phone away so I can take a nap.

She’d planted her tree at the end of the war. It had been her way of signifying a new beginning - creating new life. Earth life. Pearl had cared for it, protected it until it could care for itself.

It grew.

It thrived.

When she needed to think, she would sit in the shade it created. She would dance with its blossoms. Sometimes Garnet, or Rose, or Amethyst would join her. Sometimes they all would.

Mostly, though, it was just her.

When Rose... when Steven was born, she spent a lot of time by her tree. When he grew, as she grew past it, she’d take him to play among its roots. She helped him learn to climb.

Her tree represented peace, and her new life her on earth.

Of course it would be cut down just before the first inclinations of a second would begin. By her own holo-pearl no less.

Eventually, the Second Great Gem War ended how the first had begun - with peace talks and a shattered Diamond. So many meetings and negotiations. The Earth was classified as an independent colony for the records. In truth it was a haven. For gems like Pearl, and Garnet, and Amethyst, and the rest of their family.

Pearl put together a gem relocation plan for migrant gems coming to earth.

Gems with the knowledge or will to learn began working on ways to save the gems corrupted during the first war.

They released Bismuth and found her the gem equivalent of a therapist.

Ametrine was five and would grow up with a galaxy at peace. Rosie would be able to learn her place in both worlds.

It was over, wasn’t it? Pearl could finally move on.

“Whatcha doin’ P?” Amethyst asked, causing Pearl to stop at the front door of the house.

“Gardening,” was her answer.

“You haven’t gardened since the 1800s,” Amethyst said.

“I know.”

The hill where her tree had stood was covered in sun warmed grass. The stump had become a home for a plethora of bugs. Pearl dig a hole in the ground with her hands, carving out a space for the seed. Once it was planted, she watered it with the watering can she’d carried over from the house.

—

On the morning of the thousandth year anniversary of peace, Pearl sat underneath the blossom heavy boughs of her tree. Beside her, Garnet lay with her head on her lap, visor abandoned the same day Pearl had planted the tree. Amethyst and Bismuth were playing with Ametrine, who’d settled at age ten. Stevonnie, permanently fused now, sat on the branch above Pearl’s head. Lapis and Peridot were sitting at the edge of the cliff, holding hands, feet dangling off the edge.

Pearl closed her eyes, tears rolling out.

This is what moving on felt like.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated!


End file.
